No good deed goes unpunished - Wicked the Musical

As a massive musical theatre fan I love to see a variety of musicals,  but rarely see one over and over again. However I made an exception for wicked, seeing it for the seventh time in February of this year.  As you can imagine I have had to cast up several favours from friends to ensure I wasn’t flying solo to the Apollo Victoria, but not one of them have failed to be blown away by the scale of the production, the emotion of the music and the relatability of the story.

The fist time I saw wicked the role of Elphaba was played by Kerry Ellis. To this day I believe it was her performance and connection with the character which made me return – however I soon realised that no matter who was playing Elphaba the show could hold its own.


What I connect most with in Wicked are the songs. There isn’t one single track which I don’t enjoy. My favourite song from wicked is unsurprisingly defying gravity, this song has become some what iconic and has the complete essence of the show wrapped up in the lyrics.

I think it's safe to say that 7 performances on I am still as green as ever and cannot wait to see it again.

Happy Mothers Day Kaye!

Lochgoilhead...

.... my home from home.

My good friend Lorraine has a house in Lochgoilhead, and my core group of friends try to go at least once a year. We always have the most amazing time and some of my best memories of all of us together are there.

Goofy video of our trip a few years ago:

I Believe

 

I saw the emotional roller coaster that is Ghost the musical for the first time  and I can't believe it's taken me so long. This is the most heart wrenching yet uplifting show I have ever seen.

Ghost tells the story of lovers Molly and Sam. Their world is turned upside down when Sam is murdered and now - stuck between both worlds- he cannot move on until he gets justice for his murder.

The set is very modern compared to any other musical on the west end right now, and the special effects are like nothing I've ever witnessed before. The use of visual trickery even has the audience believing the cast are walking through walls, so much so that I still cannot think of a logical explanation as to how the effects were achieved.

Rebecca Trehearn played Molly and she was amazing!! Her voice was so powerful and she completely owned the stage. Someone on twitter informed me that this was her very first performance as Molly, but you would have had no idea - she nailed it!

Mark Evans was so winning as Sam. I was completely caught up in his performance, he had the perfect balance between anger, frustration and sadness.

Loved loved loved Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, she brought the comedy factor and added a dash of colour to the show.

I really liked this musical and if you do go and see it  be sure to take a box of tissues - you're gonna need them 

8 short trips to the Emerald City

I'm sure i'm not alone when I say I have a very unhealthy obsession with the musical wicked. I love everything about it, i'd go as far as to say if the west end were a town I would definitely be living in the land of OZ.

I have seen the show 8 times since my first viewing back in may 2009 and have stayed loyal to my original cast (Kerry Ellis, Dianne Pilkington and Oliver Thompsett) and still to this day think they were my favourites in the roles, however my most recent trip to the AV gave them a run for their money.

I was thoroughly impressed with this new cast. Gina Beck was so winning as G(a)lida, she played the part more over the top than previous actresses, but it worked so well and the audience seemed to be eating it up.

 I got to see Nikki Davis Jones as Elphaba and what a pleasure that was. She is absolutely incredible, one of my favourite Elphies now. Her Defying Gravity was so powerful and left me almost speechless during the interval. She had the right balance of sass and vulnerability that is needed for the role.

On a less positive note, I wasn't wild on Matt Willis as Fiyero. He seems like a really lovely person but I don't think he portrays the character well. I think there are a lot of contributing factors as to why this is, his accent being one. I just didn't find him believable.

If you have seen the new cast let me know what you think. If not who are your all time favourite cast members?

The Megabus Sleeper!

************************This post is outdated now, I recently went on the new 'Megabus Gold' which has replaced this service and it is nowhere near as good. The beds are open, so no privacy, there is no seat, the refreshments are few and far between and the staff aren't as nice. would not recommend*****************

As you may or may not know, I have a slight obsession with the big smoke. That being said I plan regular trips from my home town of Glasgow to London, roughly about once a quarter, and feel that I have perfected the art of getting there relatively cheap. Rail is normally my transport method of choice, however when I read an article that Megabus were going to trial a sleeper service I had to check it out. 

First thing I noticed that was a definite plus for me was there were no queues. The sleeper bus caters for up to 24 people and you are guaranteed a  bed so there is no need to be there too early. On my bus single woman were placed nearest the driver, couples in the middle and single men at the back. I think this is a great idea as it can be daunting if you are travelling on your own.

When the bus started to move we were offered refreshments (tea, coffee, irn bru, water etc) and a selection of nibbles ( shortbread, tablet etc ). The employees talked us through all safety features of the bus and you were then basically left to your own devices.

The bunks themselves are small, but not tiny as I had read in other blogs. I had the middle bunk and was able to get in and out with ease. Within the bunk there was a plug socket, a light (which wasn't very bright), a travel kit (comprising of an eye mask, toothbrush, tooth paste and a luggage tag) a blanket and a pillow. My bunk did have a window, which the bottom bunk was missing but to be honest I did not make use of this feature. Wifi was also readily available throughout the journey.

I am not the greatest of sleepers but managed to sleep from around 2am right through comfortably. Around 6am the lights are turned on and you are given a carton of orange juice and a little pastry before getting into Victoria station.

I paid £40 for a return ticket and I would say it was well worth the money. According to the website the fares can range between £1-£40 one way, so if you were flexible on dates I'm sure you could grab yourself a bargain.  I will definitely be using this service again.